Happy July!

Where did June go?!  Since our exciting and blessed trip to Chicago, I've been staying busy with things other than domestic jobs, napping, and Candy Crush.  I had signed up to work SERVE at church back in April I think.  I signed up for WeeSERVE, which is the preschool age group...my kind of munchkins!  Honestly, one of the reasons why I decided to get out and volunteer was to avoid being stuck inside the summer dwelling in what could have been.  Back in December, we were hopeful and optimistic that this summer would be getting ready for baby but we had an angel instead.  As each month passed, I teetered with a variety of ups and downs which is where attending and being involved in church came into play big time.  Remembering that there is a plan for us and having positive supports around me kept me grounded and strengthened my faith.  Back to SERVE...there goes my ADD again!
I had signed up to help every day because my schedule is pretty free come summer!  Jennifer had asked if I would lead the craft station each day, which is right up my preschool teacher alley.  After our trip and winning the IVF raffle, I went into SERVE week with a different mindset.  It wasn't about focusing on God to avoid sadness and teaching children, it became more about being thankful for our blessings and sharing God's love with the little ones.  Seeing 29 three and four year olds learn their memory verse, sing and dance to praise Jesus, and learn that God loves them made for a very fulfilling week!  I was able to get to know some more people from church and give back a little after we had received such a blessing at the Cade picnic.
I chickened out and didn't call Nurse Alison at Dr. Bopp's...I e-mailed her.  She has been such an amazing person and gone well beyond her nursing duties, it just made me sad to think of going through an IVF cycle without her!  (and we love Dr. Bopp of course, it's just we see Alison more)  Of course she was excited for us and said to keep in touch.  I had to fill out a release for medical records to go to Dr. Morris.  On Monday after we got back, Chrissy from the Cade Foundation connected us with our contact at IVF1.  They were quick to send us congratulations and explain we have a year to use our IVF cycle.  We have our contact to set up a new patient appointment and yesterday they received all 123 pages of our medical history.  I checked to release our entire medical record, and now we know Dr. Morris will have all the info he could want when we start out with him.
While being able to another round of IVF was a long term goal, we had no expectation that one was literally going to land in our hands!  As we figure out a plan and schedule a consultation, we will continue to keep our family and friends posted so you'll know specifically how to pray for us!
For now, we are just gearing up for 4th of July and enjoying the time we get to spend together in the summer!  It's nice not going to bed at 9:30.  :)  Have a safe and happy 4th of July!  Thanks for taking time to read my rambles and reflections as we work on overcoming infertility!
Love,
Sarah & Joe